Mike and I left Wellington this morning (Thursday) @ 10 am after taking on fuel and water. It was a perfect day for sailing 15-20 knots of wind, sailing at 7 knots and no clouds in the sky. We even had dolphin swimming with us out of the bay, always a positive sign for a good passage. The trip will be about 500 miles and take us 3 days. I am really looking forward to it after almost a month in Wellington,

We had some stew for dinner tonight and then settled in for our 3 hour watches. During the night we had some great winds at times pushing us along at 11.5 knots boat speed. But over all it was mild with small seas. It was a beautiful night no clouds and a half moon, so when it went down the stars exploded in the sky.

Today (Friday) the wind died. So we ended up motoring almost all day. We saw some Albatross enroute. They are magnificent birds with a 7’+ wing span. It was a very nice sunny and warm day (70 F). It was another night of no clouds and billions of stars so we motor sailed under a carpet of diamonds. I had the sunrise shift this morning (Saturday) and was inspired to write a verse

The last star at night
Brings forth the days first light
A beautify to behold
As the seas wonders unfold.

It is another beautiful day (Saturday). The wind has come up 20- 25 knots which normally would be great but it was coming right at us from the direction we wanted to go. So we are once again motoring and only making 4.5 knots into 6 -8 ft seas. We put into Tauranga at 4 am and went to bed. It was a great trip.

The adventure continues

Love Gary